COLUMBUS, OH (WTOL) - The Ohio AMBER Alert Steering Committee declared Sunday, January 13, National AMBER Alert Awareness Day.
Officials say it's a day set aside to honor the program and the memory of Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas in 1996.
Ohio's program uses the Emergency Alert System (EAS), electronic billboards, lottery terminals, media partnerships, along with social media to get information out when a child has been abducted.
The AMBER Alert program has led to the safe return of more than 595 children nationwide.
An AMBER Alert can only be issued if it meets the following requirements:
· An abducted child must be under 18 years of age.
· The abduction poses a credible threat of immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death to a child.
· A law enforcement agency determines that the child is not a runaway and has not been abducted as a result of a child custody dispute, unless the dispute poses a credible threat of immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death to the child.
· There is sufficient descriptive information about the child, the abductor, and the circumstances surrounding the abduction to indicate that activation of the alert will help locate the child.
Details about Ohio's AMBER Alert Program are posted online at www.ohioamberplan.org.
